Rating: 
Summary: A Science Fiction Highpoint
Review: One of the best movies ever made about the concept of cotact with extraterrestrial life; one of the best 'conspiracy' movies (maybe THE best); "The Arrival" is an involved, intelligent and dark science fiction tale that should appeal to fans of suspense thrillers and horror movies just as much as sci-fi enthusiasts. Dead-on realistic with uniformly excellent performances, including top-billed Charlie Sheen (I never would have guessed from movies like "Hot Shots" and "Major League" that he'd be so capable of doing this kind of role so excellently) and Ron Silver, outstanding special effects and true conceptual innovation, I would have to rank this as one of the best science fiction movies ever.
Two radio astronomers involved with the ongoing globally co-ordinated scanning of the skies for radio waves that could be of artificial origin (alien transmissions) suddenly hit the jackpot when on one random night, 'The' transmission gets picked up. What should be the discovery of a lifetime becomes a maddening frustration as they're disbelieved and suppressed, and a nightmare as more drastic action is taken and the movie begins to reveal the stunning iceberg that the initial, undeciphered transmission was just the merest tip of. Outstanding.
Rating: 
Summary: Good movie, mediocre DVD
Review: "The Arrival" is one of Hollywood's few attempts to make a real sci-fi film - one that takes a creative idea and plays it out to its conculsion rather than just using sci-fi as window-dressing. The product is an entralling film that begins slow (as it should) but then ramps up the stakes with some great scenes. "The Arrival" does what it sets out to do and does it well. It is not overly ambitious and it is unpretentious.
One thing that impresses me about the film is that it pays attention to the science. It doesn't go into details much, but in the background one can see that the writer did his research. From details such as the knowledge that the transmission is from the stars and not a satellite, to the major creative idea behind the plot (which I will not mention so as not to spoil it).
Charlie Sheen does an excellent job as a paranoid astronomer. His character is dedicated, not afraid to uncover the truth no matter the cost to himself. The sidekick character Kiki though is distracting. Kiki is written as if drawing on stereotypes. Maybe there is subtle reason for that given Kiki's nature, but it's unclear. I will leave it there.
Unfortunately, the DVD release is subpar. My main concern in a DVD is for high quality in the video and audio. Alas, this DVD does not use anamorphic video in its widescreen version, which means it does not utilize the full resolution that the format is capable of. More problematic is that the film print used for the transfer is not very good, though not terrible. There are a fair number of dust specks and other film artifacts and the colors are washed out in some places. The audio for the film is decent but not spectacular. The 5.1 audio shines most in a few crucial scenes. The DVD also lacks features. It only includes a couple of trailers. I would love to see a special edition done with this film.
Overall, I give the film a solid 4 stars but the DVD only 2.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Sci-fi with decent special effects
Review: A great sci-fi flick to add to anyone's collection. Charlie Sheen is probably the perfect actor for the role as Zane in the movie, and Ron Silver will freak the crap out of you eventually. It's a good movie, and I've rented it about 20 times over the past few years. Buy it!
Rating:
Summary: THE ARRIVAL IS SIMPLY THE BEST/MISSION TO MARS NOT
Review: AFTER BEING A SCI FI FAN FOR MANY DECADES AND SEEING MANY SCI FI FILMS.THIS ONE THE ARRIAL,THE FIRST ONE WITH CHARLIE SHEEN,NOT THE TAG ALONG ARRIVAL 2 WHICH IS OK .THE ARRIVAL IS FAR ONE OF THE BEST I HAVE EVER VIEWED.THE STUDIO'S RECENT ATTEMPT'S LIKE MISSION TO MARS AND THE RED PLANET ARE A BAD BAD ATTEMPT.HAVE YOU VIEWED THESE.THEY SHOULD AT LEAST MAKE THEM UNDERSTANDABILE AND VIEWABILE WITH A DECENT PLOT.ALTHOUGH PITCH BLACK AND SOME ARE GOOD.IF YOU ARE A SCI FI FAN AND YOU DONT HAVE THE ORIGINAL 1996 VERSION OF ARRIVAL YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE MISSING.AD ASTRA
Rating:
Summary: An clever Sci-Fi Thriller.
Review: An Astronomer (Charlie Sheen) is listening to the heavens for Intelligent Life, in one night. When he inadvertently intercepts a seemingly alien signal. But when he gets fired from his job and he refuse to give up, he stumbles into a conspiracy involved global warning and coloization.Directed by David N. Twohy (Pitch Black) brings a stylish suspense Sci-Fi Thriller, Never a Dull Moment. DVD`s has an clean non-anamorphic Widescreen (1.82:1) transfer and An strong Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. This was a Box Office flop of the Spring of 1996 but it gain a cult following on Video. Followed by a Direct to Video Sequel. Grade:A-.
Rating:
Summary: The best space alien invasion movie ever
Review: Charlie Sheen is a radio astronomer searching for signals from extraterrestrial life. Shortly after he discovers what seems like a likely signal, and reports it to his boss, he is fired, and blackballed from academia. He finds a clever and plausible way to continue his research, and confirms his findings. Soon after, he finds that someone is trying to cover up his discovery. He finds another scientist who is on to the secret he has started investigating, and they head to Mexico to investigate further. Everything the humans in the movie do is plausible. The human science is sound, and even clever in the case of how Charlie Sheen continues his radio astronomy. The behavior is reasonable too -- people show fear when we would be afraid, and make mistakes that seem reasonable rather than stupid. When they discover useful information, they draw clever conclusions, without relying on unbelievable reasoning or information they couldn't know. Charlie Sheen has a few successes -- and failures -- due to luck, but most of his success come from dedication and intelligence. The aliens are generally plausible too. Some of their technology is a bit hard to believe, but don't require unreasonable suspension of disbelief. (Their disguises are questionable, but important to the plot and more believeable than alternatives in other movies. The device they used to shut down Charlie Sheen's follow-up experiments was questionable, but more fun to see in action than a work gang.) More important, the aliens' behavior is reasonable. They're very protective of their secrets, which they would have to be to maintain their cover. Rather than mistakes of overconfidence, their mistakes result from desire to keep a low profile... It has a bad direct-to-video sequel, which is present as a mostly worthless extra on one DVD version of The Arrival. It's just as bad as the stupid but better-known space alien invasion movie that was released in 1996.
Rating:
Summary: MIA - The Making Of The Arrival featurette
Review: Ditto all of the 5 star reviews. Loved this movie enough to buy it twice. I also own the VHS version and was surprised, nay, shocked, that the excellent featurette "The Making Of The Arrival" included on the low-tech VHS tape was not included on the high-falutin' DVD! On the other hand, anything that DOESN'T include "The Arrival 2" is positive.
Rating:
Summary: Debut Marks the Arrival of New Talent
Review: For this being his first time helming a major studio production (if you consider the now-defunct Live major), David Twohy has done a remarkable job molding and shaping a would-be stale script idea into something new and dare I say - exciting. Charlie Sheen (don't laugh) gives a remarkable performace as radio astronomer Zane Zaminski, who happens across what could be the most important discover of his, or anyboy elses, lifetime - the existance of aliens (sorry to dumb down). Landing in Mexico about a third of the way through the film kicks into hyperdrive and never lets you stop to catch your breath. Teri Polo gives a star-making performance as the not-so-supportive girlfriend whose own identity is a running mystery. The DVD offers few extras, maybe the most notable of which being the lack of a director's commentary by Twohy, but the sound is phenomenal and while the widescreen scope is say desirable then lets say a 2.35:1 it's suitable enough to appease me. Followed by a made-for-TV followup that's saddled to it's predecessor in another of those DVD combos. Trust me, it's so bad you won't even want it taint your collection with it even though it's reasonably priced.
Rating:
Summary: The intelligent and intriguing version of They Live
Review: I don't know if anybody (except for Carpenter fans) canremember John Carpenter's They Live? It was a late 80's sci-fthriller about a drifter who discovered that aliens walked among us posing as humans. It was an ambitious film that really went nowhere, and the very dated make up effects didn't help either. David Twhoy's The Arrival is the much better film, something I'm sure They Live was aiming for (David Twhoy even showed Carpenter up again with Pitch Black, a better version of The Thing). The Arrival is ambitious in its setup and delivers on all expectations. I won't say much about the plot other than the fact that it's better to let it unfold in front of you. There are some pleasant surprises and intriguing elements in it. The riveting chases also help as they are extremely thrilling. The first half of the film involves creating genuine awe and wonder with a sense of dark mystery. The second half moves at a breakneck pace with some fine action scenes. The special effects are also very good with some great scenes such as the flying spherical object and the creative alien design. Acting is certainly not a problem. Most of the performances are good, with the best coming from Charlie Sheen as a paranoid and brilliant radio astronomer. David Twohy is a relative newcomer. Pitch Black is just his second movie but I have the feeling that he will be a coveted writer/director not just because of the fact that he can make modestly budgeted movies look like expensive sci-fi extravaganzas but also because he can make films intelligent and thrilling simultaneously and develop the characters very well.
Rating:
Summary: Want to know the cause of global warming? Look to the skies
Review: I have heard a lot of speculation regarding the causes of global warming. Burning fossil fuels, spraying aerosol cans, and the destruction of the rain forests have all been accused of being responsible for the melting polar ice caps. Writer-director David Twohy comes up with a more interesting culprit in this 1996 science fiction thriller, which begins with scientist Ilana Green (Lindsay Crouse) finding something in Antarctica that should not be there. However, the hero of our tale is a radio astronomer named Zane Zaminski (Charlie Sheen with a goatee), who working on a S.E.T.I. project by looking where nobody in their right mind should be looking, in the FM band. To his surprise and the shock of his colleague, Cal (Richard Schiff), he finds something there. This could be the biggest scientific discovery of the 20th century by Zane's boss, Phil Gordian (Ron Silver), not only refuses to get excited, he destroys the evidence. Then some strange guys in suits show up to make sure they have all of the evidence. Clearly Zane has discovered something he is not supposed to know about. But part of the problem is that he has no clue what he has stumbled upon or why it should get people killed. The other key part of the problem is that Zane is now unemployed and no longer has access to a gigantic radio telescope. So he has to, basically, build one, which is how "The Arrival" lets you know that Twohy has paid attention to the science of the story (okay, I know nothing about science and this could all be nonsense, but there is an effort being made to connect the scientific dots). Zane effective does build his own radio telescope, and if this new phase of his old obsession has made him lose his girl friend, Char (Teri Polo), at least he has Kiki (Tony T. Johnson) the smart street kid who lives next door to take up the slack. At some point Zane and Ilana have to cross paths, which gets them closer to the horrible truth that still has to see some people dead in this movie. But we have a big clue in terms of trying to figure out where the interests of a radio astronomer and an environmental scientist would overlap. Of course the audience gets to figure things out a bit before Zane does, but then he is distracted by the most ingenious attempts to kill someone is bath tub I have seen since "Final Destination." I checked out this film because I saw one of Twohy's more recent efforts, "Below," and again he shows some creativity in presenting the conventions of the science fiction-thriller genre. Sheen's performance is an interesting mix of paranoia and anger, sometimes switching back and forth between the two in an instance if somebody looks at him funny or is just funny looking. At a key point in the film he is asked why he knows the bad guys are not gone yet, and his response is the best line in the film. I did not bite on the obvious red herring as to who the ultimate villain was in "The Arrival," but I did not see the final revelation coming either, so that is a good thing. Ultimately, I did not find "The Arrival" to be a classic science fiction film, but for a modern version of the "B" movie it is very good. There is a sequel, 1998's "The Second Arrival," but Twohy had nothing to do with it, which is rarely a good since when it comes to such things.
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